1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a deck panel for reinforced concrete slabs and, more particularly, to a deck panel formed by welding a plurality of deck girders onto a deck plate prior to being laid on iron beams or reinforced concrete beams, thus accomplishing both a concrete slab forming work and a surface finishing work at the same time while conserving the material of the slab structure and increasing the welding strength of the deck panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a reinforced concrete structure is formed using both concrete as a compression member and a plurality of steel bars as tension members, thus having a complex construction. In order to form such a reinforced concrete structure, a plurality of cast panels are arranged on a support surface with a desirable gap being defined between the cast panels. Thereafter, a plurality of steel bars are appropriately arrayed inside the gap. After arraying the steel bars inside the gap between the panels, concrete is poured into the gap and is hardened for a time so that the concrete is integrated with the steel bars into a single reinforced concrete structure. After the reinforced concrete structure is completely hardened, the cast panels are removed from the structure one by one, thus providing a desired reinforced concrete structure. Such a reinforced concrete structure is typically and preferably used as a building structure.
The typical process of forming such a reinforced concrete structure must include several steps of arraying the cast panels, such as wood panels, on a support surface and arraying a plurality of steel bars inside the gap between the panels. The process also includes a panel separation step of removing the cast panels from a reinforced concrete structure after the structure is completely hardened. That is, the process of forming a reinforced concrete structure using the cast panels includes a plurality of steps so that the process is time consuming.
Typically, the cast panels strongly adhere to the surfaces of the reinforced concrete structure and so it is very difficult to remove the panels from the structure. In addition, the cast panels cause uneven surfaces to remain on the reinforced concrete structure, thus causing the structure to be subjected to an additional surface finishing work. The cast panels are typically formed of a low strength material such as wood so that the panels may be unexpectedly damaged or broken when they are forcibly removed from a reinforced concrete structure. Such damaged panels cannot be repeatedly used so that they force the owner to purchase new ones at excessive costs and generate a large amount of waste panels.
In an effort to overcome such a problem experienced in the process of forming a reinforced concrete structure using the cast panels, a panel-free process, using a finishing member being integrated with concrete into a reinforced concrete structure, is proposed.
A deck plate process, which uses a corrugated deck plate in place of such cast panels, is a representative example of the known panel-free process. In such a deck plate process, a deck plate is simply laid on beams and so the process is free from the steps of arraying and removing the cast panels. Another advantage of the deck plate process resides in that the deck plate provides a safety working platform for workers thus eliminating the need for a typical safety net from the construction area. Such a deck plate remarkably simplifies the process of forming a reinforced concrete structure and shortens the construction time.
However, such a typical deck plate process is only free from the steps of arraying and removing the cast panels, but the deck plate process still requires the use of steel bars in order to provide a desired reinforcing strength of a concrete slab structure and securely integrate the flat deck plate with concrete, thus failing to radically simplify the process of forming a reinforced concrete structure.
In order to overcome the problems experienced in the typical deck plate process, several technologies are proposed and used.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of typical deck panels used in the process of forming a reinforced concrete slab structure. In order to form the deck panel of FIG. 1, three steel bars, one upper steel bar 12 and two lower steel bars 14, are welded to each other using two oppositely-arranged lattice members 15, thus forming a deck girder 10. A plurality of deck girders 10 are, thereafter, welded to a deck plate 20, thus forming a deck panel. In order to form a reinforced concrete slab using such a deck panel, the deck panel is laid on beams H prior to pouring concrete onto the deck panel. When the concrete is completely hardened, the concrete is securely integrated with the deck panel into a single reinforced concrete slab. In this case, the deck plate 20 forms a surface finishing member of the resulting reinforced concrete slab, thereby allowing the process to be free from any additional arrangement of steel bars, shortening construction time, conserving construction costs and improving work efficiency while forming reinforced concrete slabs.
However, the above deck girder 10 is formed by welding one upper steel bar 12 and two lower steel bars 14 to each other using two lattice members 15. The deck girder 10 thus regrettably wastes such lattice members 15. In addition, the three steel bars 12 and 14 and the two lattice members 15 have to be welded to each other into a deck girder 10, thereby deteriorating work efficiency and increasing construction costs while forming reinforced concrete slabs. Another problem of the above deck panel resides in that the deck girder 10 forms a space between the two lattice members 15. Since concrete cannot easily flow into the space, it is necessary to forcibly push the concrete into the space, thus reducing work efficiency while forming reinforced concrete slabs.
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of typical deck panels used in the process of forming a reinforced concrete slab structure. In order to form the deck panel of FIG. 2, one upper steel bar 12 is welded to one lower steel bar 14 using one longitudinal lattice member 15, thus forming a deck girder 10. In the deck girder 10, the top bent portions of the lattice member 15 are welded to the upper steel bar 12, while the bottom bent portions are welded to the lower steel bar 14. A plurality of deck girders 10 are, thereafter, welded to a deck plate 20 and are reinforced by a plurality of transverse lattice members 17, thus forming a deck panel. In comparison with the deck panel of FIG. 1, the deck panel of FIG. 2 conserves the lattice members 15 and allows concrete to easily flow onto the deck panel. However, in the above deck panel, the longitudinal lattice member 15 has to be welded to the upper and lower steel bars 12 and 14 at several points, thereby reducing work efficiency while forming a reinforced concrete slab. In addition, the welding junction between the deck girder 10 and the deck plate 20 is small in area and reduces the welding strength of the deck panel. The above deck panel is also provided with a plurality of transverse lattice members 17 for reinforcing the deck girders 10, thus consuming the material of the lattice members 17 and reducing work efficiency and welding strength while welding the deck girders 10, transverse lattice members 17 and deck plate 20 to each other into a deck panel.